1000 Paper Cranes
by zenigame
Summary: '"I'm surviving on coffee, cigarettes and anti-anxiety tablets." The orange haired girl said to the old woman who sat next to her on the pigeon shit covered bench.' Orihime learns some improtant life lessons after testing fate with a one night stand. Raten M for drug and alcohol abuse and sexual scenes.


**A/N: Here's another one for ya'!**

**Disclamer: I do not own Bleach!**

1000 Paper Cranes

~#~

"I'm surviving on coffee, cigarettes and anti-anxiety tablets." The orange haired girl said to the old woman who sat next to her on the pigeon shit covered bench. The birds gathered around her feet with their gammy legs and ugly beaks as they pecked the ground to look for food which was clearly not there.

The old woman who sat next to Orihime smiled at the girl while her hands stayed firmly on the handle of her bag, why did she look so scared around her? She was the only one sat down next to the redhead and asked her what was on her mind.

Orihime was quite shocked that the little old dear had the guts to stop and talk to the sleep deprived teenager. Didn't she not look unapproachable enough? Possible not, she'd have to make a better effort next time to avoid all human contact.

"Oh dear, you shouldn't smoke. Or drink caffeine. Or self-medicate... its rather bad for you." She croaked out while looking down at Orihime's right hand where a badly rolled cigarette lay between her fore and middle finger.

"Right..." Was all that Orihime could muster up as she took a drag from said cigarette, even though the old woman has asked Orihime how her day was, she hadn't actually answered her question. To be honest she had had a shit day.

Everything you can possibly think of, had gone wrong.

Well that's what she had thought.

Nothing had gone wrong, everything had just been building up and getting to her. That she had

Simple walked out of her workplace and gotten a coffee from her favorite coffee shop, walked to the park and broken down one of the shitty benches. Then suddenly, while she was wiping away the last of her tears and finally got her breathing steady again, an old woman comes along and asked her what's wrong.

Just her fucking luck. And to think that she wore her lucky necklace AND ring today.

"I just feel so let down with life right now." Orihime said truthfully while blowing her fringe out of her eyes.

"Like an old proverb once said, "Do or do not, there is no 'try'." The old woman pointed her finger in the air and wore a proud smile on her wrinkled face.

"Wait, isn't that off Star Wars?" Grey orbs looked at the woman like she was crazy.

"Maybe so my dear, but it's true." Her crystal blue eyes fired into Orihime dull grey ones, "If one does not try in life. Life will simply pass you by and not pick you up for the truly amazing ride it can give." She sighed, "Take it from somebody who knows."

She slowly stood up from the bench and held out a hand towards Orihime and smiled, "It's been nice talking to you, Orihime."

The redhead extended her hand and gently shook the old woman's, then suddenly Orihime blinked and she was gone.

_What the fuck?_

_She was just stood there, right? And how did she know my name!?_

Shaking her head quickly from side to side, Orihime suddenly tried to remember whether the old lady was actually there. Or had she become delusional and just imagined the whole conversation?

She looked around the park and the woman was literally nowhere to be seen!

"Am I being punked?" She asked out loud and then suddenly felt very stupid for thinking that.

After taking a few deep breaths, collecting her crazy thoughts and taking a few pills from the amber tinted bottle, Orihime decided to go to her friend's house, since he only literally lived across from the park she was in.

Walking straight across the grass, Orihime hummed a simple tune to herself while crossing the road and walking up the large steps to the apartment building her closest friend lived in.

Pushing the stiff number three buzzer, then all too loud ringing echoed in the empty street.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"I do not know who 'me' is."

"Yes you do, Mr. Sad Eyes! Now let me in!"

"Ah, Orihime. You should've said" Ulquiorra stated bluntly before buzzing her in.

Orihime muttered all sorts of profanities while trudging up the dingy carpeted stairs of the building. Finally reaching the third floor after what felt like an eternity of climbing stairs, a bored looking Ulquiorra was stood in the doorway of his flat.

His black hair was in its typical shaggy state and he was dressed in the even more typical band tee and ripped skinny jeans. His green eyes stared at Orihime and she puffed out a lung full of air as soon as she reached the doorway. She was out of breath and Ulquiorra was about to make his usual comment of 'you should stop smoking' when Orihime lifted up one finger in front of his face and said,

"Don't even say it." And walked straight into his living room. She flopped down on the rock hard red sofa that she had grown accustomed too and flicked her shoes off.

"Wow, not even a 'hello' or snide comment from her today, Ulquiorra. Just straight to the sofa of regret! She must've had a bad one!" The blue haired idiot roommate shouted out from across the room.

"Shut the fuck up, Grimmjow." Orihime muttered while slouching further into the sofa and massage her temples. "I've had the worst day of my life and I think I'm going crazy."

"You say that every time you come round." Ulquiorra stated while turning his head to look at the redhead.

"Maybe it's just you guys then." Orihime stated as bluntly back while looking into his emerald eyes. "I should just go home."

"C'mon Princess! Stay! A few friends are coming round later and a few drinks will gets distributed by yours truly..." Grimmjow was in the middle of saying before Ulquiorra interrupted.

"Don't you mean by me. Since you are broke and I bought the alcohol with my money."

"Darn, I don't have anything..." Orihime pouted.

"Well it's good that I think if you then." Ulquiorra said.

A light blush crept onto Orihime face, "W-what do you mean?"

"I bought you alcohol, you impotent woman." He sighed.

"Thank you, Ulqiu!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms his neck, "You're the best!"

"You're getting far too excited about alcohol, Princess..." Grimmjow muttered from the corner.

"Stop calling me that!" The redhead shouted while still lay on Ulqiuorra's lap with her arms still around his neck.

"Woman, get off me." Ulqiuorra stood and nonchalantly brushed Orihime off his lap so that she rolled onto the floor and walked out of the living room.

"How rude..." Orihime muttered while getting up and brushing off her dark wash jeans. She heard Grimmjow snicker from the corner and she simply shot him an evil look.

Orihime was just about to sit back down on the sofa, then Ulqiuorra walked back into the living room pushing two crates of beer with each foot, another crate balanced in his arms, then two bottles if Russian standard vodka in either hand.

Orihime's mouth dropped open and she asked,

"I thought this apartment was going to be 'party free'?"

"It was, before I befriended you." He replied. "Then you started bringing your ragamuffin friends around and primarily turned this flat into a 'party zone'."

"Hey! They're your friends too!" Orihime immediately shot back.

All she got was an 'humph' as a reply when the buzzer started going off like crazy. Grimmjow buzzed their friends in and suddenly the whole flat was filled with the teenagers of Karakura and the Hueco Mundo district.

Ulquiorra had been from the Hueco Mundo district, before migrating to Karakura because of family issues that he refused to talk about. And in typical fashion, his best friend Grimmjow had followed like a lost kitten and they got a flat together.

Orihime met the two when she got to into college at the north side of Karakura, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow where in their second year and Orihime in her first. They met through a 'buddy-up' program that the college did and much to his dismay, Ulquiorra was forced into doing it and showing a certain redhead first year around the campus.

I guess you could say they hit it off immediately, but then that would be a lie. Orihime was her typical straight-out-of-high school self, while Ulquiorra just wanted to finish college and leave. It wasn't until he started dropping by at the sandwich shop on campus that Orihime had gotten a job in and messed up his order by complete accident, profanities were shot at one another and a reluctant refund was given.

After that, Grimmjow had asked Ulquiorra multiple questions about that afternoon and sprung the idea to invite Orihime to one of their very uncommon parties. She was dragged along by her best friend, Rukia, and surprisingly apologized to Ulquiorra about his order and got closer ever since.

Now she sat in the crowded living room of his flat with a glass of vodka and lemonade in her hand and egging him on to do shots with her.

"I think you've had enough, Orihime." He stated as she stood up and consequently tumbled back down to the floor.

"I'm fine!" She retorted with a voice that was a couple hundred decibels louder than her usual voice.

The usual drunk Orihime.

Ulqiuorra had been accustomed to seeing the very intoxicated Orihime on many occasions. He knew how to deal with her now.

He looked over at to redhead who had managed to rope her high school friends, Ichigo, Rukia and Tatiski into the shots she had poured. She was still the typical Orihime he had met on the first days of college and when she messed up his sandwich order, however there was a certain personality to her. One that would randomly come out at the strangest of times, Ulqiuorra could tell that it crushed her. It crushed all her beliefs and dreams. She did her best not to show it, however Ulqiuorra could tell by the slight lowering in the corners of her mouth when she was deep in thought. It was tiny miniscule things about her that he could recognize whether or not she was unhappy or not.

Her dimples wouldn't be as prominent as usual, her grey orbs wouldn't shine in the enthusiastic way they normally would. She wouldn't play with the strands of her long unusually colored hair and she wouldn't smile in that typical childish fashion. The old Orihime that her high school friends had told him about, seemed to be vanishing before his eyes.

"Ulqiuorra?" A voice pulled him from his thought and he looked down to see a small dark haired figure.

"What?" He replied rather rudely. Rukia pouted at his word and said,

"Orihime's gone downstairs. I think you should go after her, she's had quite a lot to drink."

Without saying another word, Ulqiuorra walked out of his flat while looking at his watch. 2:34, it was getting late and he really did not want a drunk Orihime walking around the streets on her own.

Reaching the bottom of the many stairs in the building, he pulled the front door open to find a startled looking girl with a cigarette hanging out her mouth, ready to be lit.

"Let's go for a walk, Ulqui?" She asked while cocking her head to the side and displaying a small smile.

The pair walked off down the street in a comfortable silence. Orihime's long hair blew around her face and created a light in the unruly darkness of the night. Her drunk mind briefly pondered the thought of asking Ulqiuorra for his jacket, but with a quick glance to her left she saw that he had his hands shoved deeply into his jean pockets and no jacket of his own.

While noticing his attire, Orihime inadvertently inhaled some of her own saliva. She caught Ulqiuorra's attention while spluttering and coughing.

"Woman?"

"What?!"

"Can you choke a little quieter?" He sighed, "You'll wake up the neighbours."

"You're so thoughtful…" Orihime muttered while pouting and walking back off down the street. His emerald eyes followed her back as she walked away and decided to follow.

~#~

After a long silence and walking side by side in the dimly lit street, Orihime began to stumble around more than what she had before and before Ulqiuorra could even process what he was currently thinking of, she was of like a rocket.

Orihime had the sudden, spontaneous urge to run.

So she did.

Orihime ran down through the park she had previously been sat in. She ran down past the long line of sakura trees that lined each side of the street. Her hair swung lightly against her back and tickled the bare line of skin that had been exposed by her t-shirt.

She spotted the highway at the top of the street. That was her destination. She wanted to feel alive again, she just wanted to feel something. Anything! And going to that road would hopefully give her some feeling.

Ulqiuorra knew where she was heading as soon as she set off running. He remembered when they had first met and Orihime used to tell him about whenever she fought with her brother, she would go up to the highway at the top of town and stand in the middle of the road. She had told him about the amazing rush of adrenaline she would get from standing so close to death.

It was strange and that worried Ulqiuorra to no end. Naturally he wouldn't show that to anybody, but deep down he would still have the small feeling that he would try to push to the bottom of his brain and heart so that Orihime wouldn't know.

He would never imagine in a million years that the red-head would care about him caring. Even though he would never admit that he does care, only a weak man would do that.

Ulqiuorra was no weak man.

"Woman."

Orihime spun around at the sound of her pet name given by Ulqiuorra. He was jogging lightly behind her and his cheeks shone a slight pink from the cold night air.

"Don't even think about it."

"Sorry, Ulqiuorra." She smiled back as she climbed the steep bank towards the highway.

Reaching the stop of the embankment, Orihime swung her legs over the metal railings and walked towards the yellow lines that dotted the middle of the road.

Cars sped by her as she stood with her arms glued to her side. Her orange hair blew around her face and slapped her cheeks occasionally as a car would go by clearly over the speed limit. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she lifted her arms out to either side of her and opened her eyes.

It was at that moment when all Orihime could see was a pair of bright headlights speeding towards her.

That very moment was when she thought about saying goodbye, it's like jumping of the edge of a cliff or getting it by a car. The worst part is making the choice to do it, but when you're in the air there's nothing more you can do but let it go.

However, today wasn't the day Orihime had to say goodbye.

An incredible pain his Orihime's right side and her feet were lifted from the ground. She felt as if she was floating and all she could see around her were bright lights. Then suddenly an even more forceful pain his her left side and her whole body connected with something hard.

~#~


End file.
